AP English Language & Composition Syllabus 2014-2015 Instructor: Susan Strasser Email:
[email protected] (please email me first) Office Hours/Tutoring: M-‐W 2:00-‐3:00 Course Description
Room: 301 Phone: (619) 470-‐0555 x4301
The course is designed to help you become more skilled readers of prose from a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts and to become skilled writers who can compose for a variety of purposes. Through your reading and writing, you should become critical concerning the interactions among a writer’s speaker, occasion, audience, purpose, and subject (SOAPS), as well as the way generic conventions and the resources of language contribute to effective writing. Overall, you read complex texts with deep and critical understanding and write prose that is rich and versatile for mature readers1.
Course Objectives2
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Become a skilled reader of prose from a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts. Analyze prose works for structure, manipulation of language, tone, diction, figurative language, and syntax and critique author's choices with rhetorical strategies. Create organized, coherent, stylistic writings on a variety of topics for a variety of audiences and purposes. Conduct in-‐depth discussions utilizing academic language and the language of the author. Become adept researchers and communicators. Develop critical thinking skills: meta-‐cognition, intellectual perseverance, and intellectual curiosity. Develop a “mature academic perspective”3 Prepare for the AP exam through close readings of texts, multiple choice exams, and free-‐response essays.
Grading Policy
You will be assessed based on mastery of course standards. Letter Grade
A B C D F
Standard Benchmark
Descriptor4
Exemplary Mastery Competent Mastery Satisfactory Mastery Developing towards Mastery Little/No Mastery
Effective Adequate Inconsistent Inadequate Little Success
Required Texts McCuen, Jo Ray and Anthony C. Winkler. Readings for Writers 11th edition. Boston: Thomson-‐Heinle, 2004. Peterson, Linda and John C. Brereton. The Norton Reader. 11th edition. New York: W.W. Norton, 2004. Strunk, William and E.B. White. The Elements of Style. 4th edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000.
Recommended Texts
Hacker, Diana. A Writer’s Reference. 5th edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2003. Morner, Kathleen and Ralph Rausch. NTC’s Dictionary of Literary Terms. Chicago: NTC Publishing Group, 1991. 1
adapted from the SDCS Course Description, 2007 & AP English Language and Composition Course Description, 2007. 2 adapted from the AP English Language and Composition Course Description, 2007. 3 Term taken from Valerie Stevenson. AP by the Sea. 2006 4 Descriptors taken from AP Rubrics
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Plotnik, Arthur. Spunk and Bite: A Writer’s Guide to Bold, Contemporary Style. New York: Random House, 2007. Trimble, John. Writing with Style: Conversations on the Art of Writing. 2nd edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000.
Required Materials To be brought to class each period. • Current text and any assignment(s) due • Paper • #2 pencil, blue or black pen, and red pen • Folder/Binder to store handouts • Notebook (for reading responses) • An active and ready mind
Fall Semester Assessments Your fall semester grade will be based on the following six assignments. Vocabulary Test This test will consist of multiple-‐choice and matching. It will test your knowledge of literary terms, allusions, and other vocabulary relevant to AP Literature. Analysis Process Essay This essay will be an in depth analysis of a work from an author of AP literary merit. It will combine research and individual analysis and use MLA in-‐text and works cited listing. Argument Prompt FRQ (Timed) Using a previous AP Literature Argument prompt, this exam will test your ability to analyze arguments or construct an argument in a timed situation. Multiple Choice Test Modeled after the AP exam, this multiple choice test will consist of 55 multiple choice questions from mock AP passages as well as passages from texts read in class. Synthesis Prompt FRQ Using a previous AP Synthesis prompt, this exam will test your ability to read a group of documents and use them and outside information to construct a well-‐crafted argument on the given topic. Semester Final The exam mimics the AP exam and consists of 55 multiple-‐choice questions and 3 free response questions. The questions are taken from previous AP exams and will test your ability to analyze prose and poetry and respond to writing prompts.
Spring Semester Assessments Your spring semester grade will be based on the following six assignments. Vocabulary Test This test will consist of identifying the term used in a phrase or sentence provided. It will test your knowledge of literary terms, allusions, and other vocabulary relevant to AP Literature. Argument Process Essay This essay will be an in-‐depth, well-‐researched argument. It requires MLA in-‐text, Works Cited, and Works Consulted listings. Style Analysis FRQ (Timed)
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Using a previous AP Language style analysis prompt, this exam will test your ability to analyze prose in a timed situation. Multiple Choice Test Modeled after the AP exam, this multiple choice test will consist of 55 multiple choice questions from mock AP passages as well as passages from texts read in class. Synthesis Prompt FRQ Using a previous AP Synthesis prompt, this exam will test your ability to read a group of documents and use them and outside information to construct a well-‐crafted argument on the given topic. Semester Final The exam mimics the AP exam and consists of 55 multiple-‐choice questions and 3 free response questions. The questions are taken from previous AP exams and will test your ability to analyze prose and poetry and respond to writing prompts.
Semester Projects Follow a Columnist You will complete a project based on following a well-‐known newspaper columnist and analyzing the ideas, structure, and style of the columnist. This will be done each semester. Non-Fiction/Memoir Book Analysis You will select a non-‐fiction text and analyze the argument(s) the author makes. You will present, using multi-‐media (power point, podcast, or video), the author’s arguments and your analysis of his/her claims, sub-‐claims, and support. For the memoir, you will select an author and read his/her memoir. You will present to the class the author’s experience and style.
Expectations
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Assume responsibility for you behavior and your choices Ask relevant and provocative questions Participate in discussions and activities by contributing your thoughts Listen attentively and actively to lecture, videos, and your peers Be prepared with materials and with brain activity Complete assignments on time
Class Policies My Big Campus
You will access all of the class content through My Big Campus. If you have issues accessing the internet outside of class, please make sure that you speak with me as this will be the main vehicle to distribute resources and submit work.
iPads/Computers/Technology
The class will regularly use iPads, computers, and technology. You will sign an acceptable use policy and must adhere to it. Please treat all equipment respectfully and practice good digital citizenship.
Self-Regulation
You should be able to regulate yourself to use the bathroom or get water, take a stretch break, and monitor your own on-‐task behavior. While in class, you are to work productively and effectively independently and in groups.
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Competency Students are expected to show competency on all assessments. As such, if a student does not demonstrate competency, they will be expected to retake/redo the assessment. Absences/Pullouts/Field Trips You are expected to be in class for all in-‐class assessments and complete assessments by the due date. Arrangements must be made ahead of time to make-‐up tests and timed writes. If you are going to be absent for any period of time please make appropriate arrangements prior to your absence for submitting assessments on time or early. Process essays are due on the due date; you may email them to
[email protected] on that day if you are absent. You are still held responsible for information you missed and assessments due. Citizenship: Work Ethic, Tardy Policy, and Absences It is expected that you be in class on time working hard. Citizenship is determined by your attendance and your work ethic. Below, you will see how tardies and absences affect your citizenship. You will complete a self-‐evaluation to determine your own citizenship grade each grading period. Any student who has more than 5 tardies may have additional consequences, such as referrals and detention: Progress Report
Tardies 7+ tardies: A “U” in citizenship 5-‐6 tardies: No higher than an “N” in citizenship 3-‐4 tardies: No higher than an “S” in citizenship 1-‐2 tardies: No higher than a “G” in citizenship
• • • • Semester Report • • • •
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Tardies 10+ tardies: A “U” in citizenship 7-‐9 tardies: No higher than an “N” in citizenship 4-‐6 tardies: No higher than an “S” in citizenship 1-‐3 tardies: No higher than a “G” in citizenship
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Absences 3+ unexcused: citizenship will drop one category (e.g. from E to G) 5+ excused: citizenship will drop one category (e.g. from E to G) Absences 9+ unexcused: citizenship will drop one category (e.g. from E to G) 15+ excused: citizenship will drop one category (e.g. from E to G)
Late Work/Extra Credit There is no late work. There is no extra credit Plagiarism & Cheating Plagiarism is the intentional or unintentional copying of another's work. Unauthorized collaboration is similar: you and another student work together and submit the same, or extremely similar, response. This is unacceptable for major and minor assignments. If a student is caught plagiarizing or cheating the following consequences will result: • First Offense-‐ An F on the assignment • Second Offense: An F on the assignment, no higher than a “C” in the course and a “U” in citizenship. • Third Offense: An “F” in the course and a “U” in citizenship.
AP Exam The test will take place on Wednesday, May 13th 2015 at 8 am. Prior to the test, you will need to fill out the required information. Fees must be paid to the finance office. If you have any financial hardship, please see me. Each college/university has its own policy that dictates how AP grades are handled to fulfill college graduation requirements. Please check with your individual institution.
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Course Overview
Semester One: Unit: Language and Communication Unit Overview
You will be exposed to the course content and be introduced to “rhetoric.” In looking at rhetoric, you will come to understand the role of the writer/communicator and how language is important. To do this, you will learn about Aristotle’s Five Cannons and why are you a major basis for rhetoric, strategies for analysis, rhetorical modes, and how all are used to analyze texts and visuals. In your own writing, you will explore expressing ideas that are thoughtful, worthwhile, and say something important, especially in terms of the AP free-‐response prompts.
Essential Questions
• • •
What is the role of the writer? How does language served people positively and negatively? Why is communication (be it written, verbal, or visual) so valuable?
Readings: • • • •
Baca, Jimmy Santiago. “Coming into Language” (Readings for Writers, pg 527) Faulkner, William. Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech (handout) Vonnegut, Kurt. “How to Write with Style” (handout) Welty, Eudora. “Listening” (handout)
Concepts Introduced: Analysis: • Aristotle’s 5 Canons: Invention, Arrangement, Style, Memory, and Delivery • various analytic acronyms (SOAPSTone and DIDLS) • Rhetorical Modes • key terms of rhetorical analysis Writing: • difference between academic and personal writing • 5 paragraph essay versus “college” essay • zero draft • the opening: quality theses and the first lines Other/AP Test Prep: • critical thinking: metacognition, intellectual perseverance, and intellectual curiosity • AP Test overview • FRQ prompt strategy: arch method • glossing
Compositions: • • • •
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notebook assignments various exercises in analysis of language Zero Draft & Rhetorical Modes assignment: select a subject and write a paragraph for each rhetorical mode using the mode’s strategies. See Readings for Writers pg 192 for example using “guilt.” Zero Draft & Essay #1: Select one of the essential questions and write an essay in which you examine the question referring to at least two readings/authors. Your opening will be your most important element in this essay, as you will be graded on the quality of your thesis and your introduction. Analysis FRQ
Unit: Education Unit Overview In this unit, you will read, discuss, and write about the topic of education. You will continue to employ analytic techniques to the readings and further your understanding of how authors communicate. In addition, in your
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own writings, you will continue to develop and expand your own talents for writing effective prose, focusing especially on development of ideas.
Essential Questions
• • • •
What is the role of education/schooling? How has education/schooling shaped the individual? Where do the problems in education lie and are there solutions? Is there a “right” way to learn?
Readings: • • • • •
Baker, Russell. “School vs. Education” (handout) Copland, Aaron. “How We Listen” (Norton Reader, pg 650) Douglass, Frederick. “Learning to Read” (Norton Reader, pg 236) Rose, Mike. “I Just Wanna Be Average” (handout) Zinsser, William. “College Pressures” (Norton Reader, pg 262)
Concepts Introduced: Analysis: • power verbs • tone vocabulary • interpretive leaps Writing: • developing ideas: the middle • various punctuations and their role Other/AP Test Prep: • multiple choice strategies
Compositions: • • •
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notebook assignments various exercises in analysis and writing techniques Zero Draft & Essay #2: Select one of the essential questions and write an essay in which you examine the question referring to at least two readings/authors. You will be graded on your ability to sustain your position throughout the essay, through “strong evidence” and “a clean narrative line” (Trimble). You will also be expected to have a strong thesis and introduction. Analysis FRQ
Unit: Ethics and Values Unit Overview In this unit, we will explore writer’s assertions about ethics and values. You will continue to employ analytic techniques to the readings and further your understanding of how authors communicate. In addition, in your own writings, you will continue to develop and expand your own talents for writing effective prose focusing especially on writer’s voice.
Essential Questions
• • • •
Are there foundational values in society? Who is responsible for ethics and values—society or the individual? What is morally responsible? How do societal values affect individual decisions?
Contexts/Readings: • • • • •
Goodman, Ellen. “Company Man” (handout) Mairs, Nancy. “On Being Cripple” (Norton Reader, pg 36) Mukherjee, Bharati. “Two Ways to Belong in America” (handout) Par, Barry. “The Buck Stops Where” (Readings for Writers, pg 331) Pyle, Ernie. “The Horrible Waste of War” (handout)
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Queen Elizabeth. “Speech to Her Troops at Tilbury” (handout)
Concepts Introduced: Analysis: • Appeals: ethos, logos, pathos Writing: • creating voice/tone through diction, imagery, syntax, and attitude • revision: recasting sentences for precision Other/AP Test Prep: • the synthesis question
Compositions: • • • •
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notebooks various exercises in analysis and revision/editing non-‐fiction author presentation Zero Draft & Essay #3: Select one of the essential questions and write a dialogue between you and at least three authors discussing the question. Using the author’s voice as well as your own will be the most important aspect of this assignment and you will be graded on your ability to mimic the diction, imagery, syntax, attitude, and perspective of the authors as well as sustain your own. Synthesis FRQ
Unit: Politics and Government Unit Overview In this unit, we will examine writings about politics in government. During this unit we will begin to examine more carefully the nature of argument. You will continue to employ analytic techniques to the readings and further your understanding of how authors communicate. In addition, in your own writings, you will continue to develop and expand your own talents for writing effective prose focusing especially on the closer/ending.
Essential Questions
• • • •
What is the role of government? Democracy is argued to be a “better” form of government, is this true? What is the best relationship between leaders and the people? When is “civil disobedience” justified?
Contexts/Readings: • • • • • •
“Declaration of Independence” (Norton Reader, pg 513 and handout) Becker, Carl. “Democracy” and White, E.B. “Democracy” (Norton Reader, pg 518-‐521) Kennedy, John F. “Inaugural Address” (handout) King, Martin Luther. “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” (Norton Reader, pg 521) Lincoln, Abraham. “Gettysburg Address” (handout) Machiavelli. Excerpt from “Morals of a Prince”(handout)
Concepts Introduced: Analysis: • Difference between argument and persuasion • Modes of Argument: Aristotlean, Rogerian, Toumlin • Logical Fallacies • Philosophical Assumptions Writing: • Developing an effective conclusion: the closer • revision for emphasis: repetition, isolation, proportion, and placement Other/AP Test Prep: • MLA citation/Works Cited/Works Consulted
Compositions: •
notebooks
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columnist précis and letter to the editor Zero Draft & Essay #4: Write an argument in which you address one, or more, of the essential questions. Your most important element of this essay is to avoid fallacious arguments and create an effective closer (conclusion) to your argument. In order to reach the effective conclusion, you still need to have a solid thesis and developed position (opener and middle) Argument FRQ Semester Final: you will complete both a timed multiple choice and FRQ (could be Analysis, Argument, or Synthesis)
Semester Two:
Unit: Philosophy and Religion Unit Overview Philosophy and Religion has influenced history. In this unit, we will read pieces that examine philosophical and religious ideas and effects. There will be no essay for the unit, but you will complete a speech and you will engage in writing assignments that foster Analysis, Synthesis, and Argumentative writing ability.
Essential Questions
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How does religion/philosophical ideals influence the individual? Stace suggets that modernists believe there is no rationality in the universe, there is only irrationality. Does philosophy and religion in general seek to create rational explanations? Does philosophy and religion cloud the human experience or enhance it?
Contexts/Readings: • • • • • •
Hughes, Langston. “Salvation” (handout) Joyce, James. “Hell” (Readings for Writers, pg 246) Plato. “The Allegory of the Cave” (Norton Reader, pg 671) ! open reading Stace, W.T. “Man against Darkness” (Readings for Writers, pg 183) Sumner, Melanie. “Why I Love Jesus” Wilde, Oscar. “Letter to the Rev. J. Page Hopps (Readings for Writers, pg 44)
Concepts Reviewed/Introduced: Analysis: • Key terms: Analysis and Argument • Interpretive Leaps Writing: • Improving Readability • Persuasive appeals Other/AP Test Prep: • Essay Question types • Multiple Choice strategies
Compositions: • •
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Notebooks Zero Draft & Persuasive speech: Write and give a persuasive speech in which you utilize persuasive appeals to convince your audience as to a position you have on a chosen topic in philosophy/religion. While you do not need to address an essential question directly, you do need to keep your speech to the topic of religion/philosophy. Synthesis, Argument, and Analysis FRQ
Unit: Social Critique Unit Overview During this unit, we will read pieces that deal with social and cultural critique. There will be no essay for the unit, but you will complete a presentation on your memoir that discusses the author’s experience with a social issue and his/her style of writing. You will engage in writing assignments that foster Analysis, Synthesis, and Argumentative writing ability.
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Essential Questions
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What are the problem areas of society? What are the effects of social problems on the individual and society? Why do writers write about social problems?
Contexts/Readings: • • • • • •
Gregory, Dick. “Shame” (Readings for Writers, pg 212) King, Martin Luther. “I Have a Dream” (Readings for Writers, pg 39) Leo, John. “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall” (Readings for Writers, pg 336) Mairs, Nancy. “On Being Cripple” (Norton Reader, pg 36) Shirer, William. “Hitler’s Workday” (Readings for Writers, pg 292) Swift, Jonathan. “A Modest Proposal” (Norton Reader, pg 499)
Concepts Reviewed/Taught: Analysis: • Key terms: Analysis and Argument • Interpretive Leaps Writing: • Improving Readability • Persuasive appeals Other/AP Test Prep: • Essay Questions • Multiple Choice strategies • researching: finding, synthesizing, and evaluating credible sources
Compositions:
• Memoir/Social Issue Book Presentation • Synthesis, Argument, and Analysis FRQ
Unit: Gender/Social Roles and Identity Unit Overview During this unit, we will read pieces that deal with looking at gender and social roles in society. You will be writing a researched argument paper on a topic of your choosing employing all that you have learned from the year in terms of writing.
Contexts/Readings: • • • • •
Barry, Dave. “The Ugly Truth About Beauty” (handout) or “Lost in the Kitchen” (handout) Brady, Judy. “I Want a Wife” (handout) Quindlen, Anna. “Between the Sexes, a Great Divide” (Norton Reader, pg. 158) Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” (Nortion Reader, pg. 516) Truth, Sojourner. “Aren’t I a Woman” (handout)
Concepts Reviewed/Taught: Analysis: • Argument Writing: • Writing formal papers Other/AP Test Prep: • researching: finding, synthesizing, and evaluating credible sources
Compositions: •
Argument Paper: Select a topic, research the topic, and write an argumentative paper.
Unit: Analyzing Film: (Post Exam) Unit Overview
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In this unit, you will be comparing and contrasting novels to their film adaptations. In addition to looking at author’s style, you will look at traditional aspects to literature to prepare them for AP English Literature: character, conflict, and theme. You will use your knowledge of the novel and film to address the final questions: a combination of comparison and contrast with evaluation, synthesis, and analysis. Titles indicated are only an example, in the past, other novels have been used, such as The Hours, The Cider House Rules, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Joy Luck Club, The Color Purple.
Contexts/Readings: • Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner & film version • Goldman, William. The Princess Bride & film version
Concepts Taught: • critical thinking about film • evaluating film techniques
Compositions: • notebooks • forum discussions • Final Essay: You will respond to the following prompt for your final. Choose one of the pieces read and viewed. In an essay, compare and contrast the novel and film versions. How has the novel changed when adapted to screen and what are the effects of the changes on the integrity of the piece? Does the piece maintain its theme or other aspects? Why or why not? Be sure in your essay to address not just character, plot, setting, and conflict changes, but also how the techniques of film, lighting, camera angle, costumes, direction, among others, affects the story and ultimately, whether or not you think that the film adequately represents the novel. • columnist précis and letter to the editor
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